Portable shelters such as, for example, canopies, tents, enclosures, gazebos cabanas, screen rooms, and the like are well known. These portable shelters have many applications and are particularly useful in outdoor settings where protection from sun, wind, and/or rain is desired such as at art fairs, craft shows, farmer's markets, trade shows, and the like. Portable shelters typically have an underlying support framework including an overhead truss structure and a plurality legs which support the overhead truss structure in a raised position above the ground. A canopy or roof covering is supported on the overhead truss structure to provide overhead protection to inhabitants of the portable shelter. The sides of the portable shelter can be either open or partially or fully closed by side panels. For an example of a typical portable shelter, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,681, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
One drawback of these portable shelters is that high wind can lift, displace, or even blow over the portable shelters. In order to anchor the portable shelters against wind and the like, an anchor pile or stake is typically passed through a hole formed in a base or foot of each leg and is driven into the ground. Alternately, a pile or stake is driven into the ground adjacent to each leg, and the edge of the canopy is drawn to the piles or stakes with flexible lines, such as ropes or straps, so that the legs are indirectly anchored as they are trapped between the canopy and the ground. On asphalt, concrete, tile, brick, and the like, however, such piling or staking is often difficult and/or not permitted. In such cases, a ballast or weight such as a sandbag or a concrete block has often been placed on the base or foot of each of the legs so as to anchor or weight the legs to the ground. However, these sandbags and concrete blocks are unpleasant to look at and spoil the appearance of the portable shelter, and have poor reliability because they can be easily displaced.
Many attempts have been made to provide improved anchors or ballasts for canopies and the like. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,020,764, 5,737,883, 6,981,680, and 7,721,748, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. While these attempts may have been somewhat successful in providing an improvement over using sandbags and concrete blocks, they are much more time consuming to utilize than sandbags and concrete blocks. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved anchoring system for portable shelters that is both effective and easy to use.